Encinitas owes developer $16K

SPENCER SOPER

Staff Writer

ENCINITAS -- By undercharging several builders and homeowners
for sewer connections in Olivenhain, Encinitas and the county have
shorted a local developer nearly $16,000 since 1986, city officials
said Monday.

The City Council on Wednesday will consider paying builder Chuck
DuVivier, a former Encinitas councilman, $15,946.51. DuVivier
maintains the city owes him the money for a sewer line he installed
in northern Olivenhain 15 years ago.

DuVivier paid to install the line, and the city collects
connection fees on his behalf. Such agreements are common when
municipalities can't afford to install their own sewer lines.

"I don't have a problem with people making mistakes just as long
as everything is sorted out in the end," said DuVivier, who said he
discovered the errors after conducting an audit this year.

The city admits it undercharged several people and its
engineering department recommends the city pay DuVivier the
difference.

"This is something we need to clean up and this is something
that should've been taken care of years ago," said Gary Lee, a
management analyst in the city's engineering department.

Lee said the engineering department does not recommend trying to
get the money from the builders and homeowners who got breaks on
their sewer connection fees.

"It would be way too much staff time and there's way too much
involved to go after this kind of money," he said.

DuVivier, a city councilman from 1992 to 2000, built the 49-home
Olive Crest subdivision in 1985. He installed a half-mile-long
sewer line along Lone Jack and Rancho Santa Fe roads to serve the
project. The line cost about $220,000, DuVivier said.

In addition to his project, the line made sewer service
accessible to about 200 neighboring properties. So DuVivier entered
into a reimbursement agreement with the Cardiff Sanitation
District, which is run by the city, to recoup part of his
costs.

According to the agreement, DuVivier was eligible to get back
$144,640, plus 6-percent annual interest, from those connecting to
the line. The balance was considered to be the fair cost of
providing sewer service to his own project.

Lee said the connection fee is calculated based on the size of
each parcel connecting to the sewer pipe. The city miscalculated
the acreage of some properties and miscalculated the interest on
others, Lee said.

Further complicating matters is that DuVivier made the agreement
with the county before the city incorporated, Lee said. The city
inherited the agreement when it took over the sanitation district,
he said. Both city and county employees miscalculated sewer
connection fees, he said.

Lee said DuVivier began auditing the sewer connection records
immediately after he left his council seat in December. DuVivier
said he conducted the audit because he knew the sanitation district
was going to dissolve. The district dissolved Thursday and became a
part of the city.

Outdoor dining standards for restaurants that have tables on
the sidewalk in downtown Encinitas, including whether alcohol
should be permitted on the sidewalk.

Progress the city is making on 38 council goals set in
February. The goals include finding ways to slow traffic in
residential neighborhoods, buying the 40-acre Robert Hall property
to make it a park, and designing and building a new downtown
library and various other parks.

The concept of placing five iron "Olivenhain" signs on large
boulders on main roads into the community.

Paying $100,000 to install new carpet in about half of City
Hall to replace nine-year-old carpet.